offending skylight a vicious punch by way of relieving his feelings; whereupon a little loop of string dropped down from the crack between the frame and the fitted cover. Tentatively Dick drew it out and with it a rusty, flat little key, and stood grinning at it like a Cheshire cat. "So!" he said, "We've got you, in spite of the Chinaman and the knife and the puppy-dog. Now here is where we solve the mystery of why the roof-garden is so strictly kapu."
The key proving recalcitrant in the rusty lock, he brought his typewriter oil-can and lubricated it well; and then, having coaxed it to its duty, he removed the padlock, undid the hasp and, mindful of the wisdom of discretion, he softly lifted the hatch and climbed out onto the roof.
His first thought was that he had never before seen such marvelous stars, and he stared for a moment at the heavens, and then turned to inspect his newly achieved territory. As he looked it over, he could see no possible reason why it should be forbidden ground. There seemed to be nothing up there but the stars, and he walked softly near to the edge of the roof and looked off and down into the valley. It was much cooler up here. The breeze from the sea came swishing through the thin upper branches of the ironwoods, which still made an effectual screen between the two houses, and rustled the leaves of the vines upon the trellises bringing
